Off Peak
September 1, 2000
Wakeup Call in San Diego?
By Regina R. Johnson
In early August, San Diego Gas & Electric's customersthe first in the country to pay market rateswere receiving bills charged at a record 14.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, up from 3.3 cents in May. Gov. Gray Davis was appealing for help from federal regulators, citizens planned a public bill burning, and an independent survey reported that the average price of electricity in the United States was the second-highest among the 14 major Western economies polleddespite deregulation.
At state agencies in California and nationwide, one question was on everyone's mind: Had the state's two-and-a-half-year-old "deregulation experiment" proved a failure? Here's what some of the players were saying.
"San Diego is your Waterloo unless you find a solution for the price increases that are plaguing this region."
-Michael Shames, Utility Consumers' Action Network, in remarks to regulators, SDG&E, and others
Off Peak
This full article is only accessible by current license holders. Please login to view the full content.
Don't have a license yet? Click here to sign up for Public Utilities Fortnightly, and gain access to the entire Fortnightly article database online.
This full article is only accessible by current license holders. Please login to view the full content.
Don't have a license yet? Click here to sign up for Public Utilities Fortnightly, and gain access to the entire Fortnightly article database online.